March 7, 2016
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/TtEPeq
Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito Saturday said he expects the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Bill that he authored to prevent the demise of agriculture in the country, to be signed into law by the president soon, according to the Philippines' Visayan Daily Star newspaper.
He said the bill that will also save Negros Occidental's sugar industry has been ratified by the Senate and he expects the Lower House to do the same so the President can act on it.
Ejercito, who was the guest speaker at the induction of the Negros Press Club officers led by Teresa Ellera at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod City, said that, aside from the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Bill he also authored the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA) in the Senate.
These two landmark measures will uplift the living conditions of sugarcane farmers, agricultural workers and businessmen in the sector, he said.
The Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Bill , which seeks to declare large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage, will hopefully revive the neglected state of the country's agricultural sector, Ejercito added.
The country incurs an annual loss of PHP200 billion (US$4.26 billion) from agricultural smuggling alone, he said.
He said preventing smuggling will save the sugar and rice industries of the country, along with other agricultural sectors.
The bill is groundbreaking because it will impose stiffer penalties such as imprisonment of less than 17 years for those who will be found guilty, making it an effective deterrent against agricultural smuggling.
He also noted that the SIDA, which that has been signed into law, allows an annual allocation of P2 billion to further improve the sugar industry.